An ultra-prominent peak, or Ultra for short, is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
summit
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The term (mountain top) is generally used ...
with a
topographic prominence
In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...
of or more; it is also called a P1500.
The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or from sea level if there is no higher peak.
There are approximately 1,524 such peaks on Earth.
Some well-known peaks, such as the
Matterhorn
The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...
and
Eiger
The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends a ...
, are not Ultras because they are connected to higher mountains by high
cols and therefore do not achieve enough topographic prominence.
The term "Ultra" originated with earth scientist Steve Fry, from his studies of the prominence of peaks in
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
in the 1980s. His original term was "ultra major mountain", referring to peaks with at least of prominence.
Distribution
Currently, 1,518 Ultras have been identified above sea level: 639 in
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, 356 in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, 209 in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, 120 in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
(including 12 in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
), 84 in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, 69 in
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
, and 41 in
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
.
Many of the world's largest mountains are Ultras, including
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
,
K2,
Kanchenjunga
Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, Kanchanjanghā (), and Khangchendzonga, is the third List of highest mountains on Earth, highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', wh ...
,
Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
,
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...
, and
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
. On the other hand, others such as the
Eiger
The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends a ...
and the
Matterhorn
The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...
are not Ultras because they do not have sufficient prominence. Many Ultras lie in rarely visited and inhospitable parts of the world, including 39 in
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
, the high points of the
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
islands of
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, ...
,
Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen () is a Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: larger nort ...
and
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norw ...
, and many of the peaks of the
Greater ranges
The Roof of the World or Top of the World is a metaphoric epithet or phrase used to describe the high region in the world, also known as High Asia. The term usually refers to the mountainous interior of Asia, including the Pamirs, the Himalayas, ...
of Asia. In
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, some of the mountains listed do not even have generally recognized names.
Thirteen of the fourteen
8,000-metre summits are Ultras (the exception being
Lhotse
Lhotse ( ne, ल्होत्से ; , ''lho tse'', ) is the fourth highest mountain in the world at , after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. The main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of China and the Khumbu ...
), and there are a further 64 Ultras over in height. There are 90 Ultras with a prominence of over , but only 22 with more than prominence.
A number of Ultras have yet to be climbed, with
Sauyr Zhotasy
Sauyr Zhotasy ( kk, Сауыр жотасы, ''Sauyr jotasy''), also known as Muz Tau (), at 3,840 m is the highest point in the Saur Range and of the entire Saur- Tarbagatai mountain system, part of the Tien Shan, on the border between Kazakhsta ...
, (possibly)
Mount Siple
Mount Siple is a Potentially active volcano, potentially active Antarctica, Antarctic shield volcano, rising to and dominating the northwest part of Siple Island, which is separated from the Bakutis Coast, Marie Byrd Land, by the Getz Ice Shelf. ...
, and
Gangkar Puensum
Gangkhar Puensum ( dz, གངས་དཀར་སྤུན་གསུམ་, translit=Kangkar Punsum, alternatively, Gangkar Punsum or Gankar Punzum) is the highest mountain in Bhutan and the highest unclimbed mountain in the world, with an el ...
being the most likely candidates for the
most prominent unclimbed mountain in the world.
[ (See footnotes 3 and 10.)]
All of the
Seven Summits
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven traditional continents. Climbing to the summit of all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass. Climbing the Seven Summits a ...
are Ultras by virtue of the fact that they are the high points of large landmasses. Each has its
key col
In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...
at or near sea level, resulting in a prominence value almost equal to its elevation.
Lists of Ultras (1518)
General
*
List of islands by highest point
This is a list of islands in the world ordered by their highest point; it lists islands with peaks by elevation. At the end of this article continental landmasses are also included for comparison.
Island countries and territories listed are tho ...
gives the 75 highest island highpoints, all of which are Ultras
*
List of mountain peaks by prominence
This is a list of mountain peaks ordered by their topographic prominence.
Terminology
The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or from sea level if there is no higher peak. The lowest ...
gives the 125 most prominent peaks worldwide.
Africa (84)
*
List of Ultras of Africa
This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in Africa. Also shown is Mount Catherine in Sinai, Egypt which is not geographically part of Africa. Not listed here are the 5 Ultras of the Can ...
(84)
Antarctica (41)
*
List of Ultras of Antarctica
This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in Antarctica. Some islands in the South Atlantic have also been included and can be found at the end of the list.
Antarctica
South Atl ...
, including South Atlantic islands (41)
Asia (639)
*
List of Ultras of Central Asia
This is a list of the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in Central Asia. The list is divided topographically rather than politically. There are 75 in total; 21 in the Pamirs, 1 in the Karakum, 5 in the Al ...
(75)
*
List of Ultras of Japan
This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in Japan.
See also
*List of mountains in Japan
Sources
ListMap
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Ultras Of Japan
Japan Ultras
Mountains of Japan ...
(21)
*
List of ultras of Northeast Asia
This is a list of all the ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in Northeast Asia. There are 53 in total.
Baikal to Okhotsk
Eastern Siberia
Kamchatka
Kuril Islands
Korea and Manchuria
M ...
(53)
*
List of Ultras of Southeast Asia
This is a list of all the ultra-prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in Mainland Southeast Asia. All values below are given in metres.
Patkai-Chin Hills
Indo-Malayan System
Malay Peninsula
Annamite Range ...
(42)
*
List of Ultras of the Himalayas
This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in the Himalayas. Listed separately, to the west and north-west are the Karakoram and Hindu Kush Ultras, and while to the north-east and east a ...
, including Sino-Nepal Provinces (76)
*
List of Ultras of the Karakoram and Hindu Kush
This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in the Karakoram, Hindu Kush and neighbouring ranges. The list includes 4 of the 14 8000m summits, all in the Karakoram, including the second hi ...
(61)
*
List of Ultras of the Malay Archipelago
This is a list of ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in the Malay Archipelago, a group of over 25,000 islands which includes Brunei, Singapore, East Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor. How ...
(92, including 12 in
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
)
*
List of Ultras of the Philippines
This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 meters) in the Philippines.
See also
* List of mountains in the Philippines
Sources
ListMap
{{Geography of the Philippines, state=expanded
*Ultra ...
(31)
*
List of Ultras of Tibet, East Asia and neighbouring areas
This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in Tibet, China, East Asia and neighbouring areas of Burma and India, including South India and Sri Lanka.
Kunlun Mountains and Northeastern Ti ...
, including India (112)
*
List of Ultras of West Asia
This is a list of all 101 of the ultra-prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in West Asia. It includes peaks on the islands of Cyprus and Socotra. It also includes the 10 ultras of the Caucasus (also listed under E ...
(88)
Europe (120)
*
List of Alpine peaks by prominence
This is a list of the mountains of the Alps, ordered by their topographic prominence. For a list by height, see the list of mountains of the Alps. By descending to 1,500 m of prominence, this list includes all the Ultras of the Alps. Some famous p ...
(44)
*
List of European ultra-prominent peaks
This is a list of all the mountains in Europe with ultra-prominent peaks with topographic prominence greater than . The column "Col" denotes the highest elevation to which one must descend from a peak in order to reach peaks with higher elevations; ...
(76), including non-Alpine European Ultras (60), the Atlantic islands (6), and the European
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains,
: pronounced
* hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ,
: pronounced
* az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced
* rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ
* tr, Kafkas Dağla ...
(10)
**
List of the highest European ultra-prominent peaks
This is a list of all the mountains in Europe with ultra-prominent peaks with topographic prominence greater than . The column "Col" denotes the highest elevation to which one must descend from a peak in order to reach peaks with higher elevations; ...
(33)
North America (356)
*
List of Ultras of North America
The following sortable tables comprise the most topographically prominent mountain peaks of greater North America. Each of these 353 summits has at least of topographic prominence.
This article defines greater North America as the portion ...
(356)
**
List of the most prominent summits of Canada
The following sortable table comprises the 150 Topographic prominence, most topographically prominent Summit, mountain peaks of Canada.
The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways:
#The Elevation, topographic ele ...
(143, including 6 bordering the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
)
**
List of the most prominent summits of the United States
The following sortable table comprises the 200 most topographically prominent mountain peaks of the United States of America.
The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways:
#The topographic elevation of a summit me ...
(129, including 6 in
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
and 6 bordering
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
)
***
List of Ultras in Alaska (65, including 4 bordering
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
and 2 bordering
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
)
**
List of Ultras of Central America
The following sortable table comprises the 23 ultra-prominent summits of Central America. Each of these peaks has at least of topographic prominence.This article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominen ...
(23)
**
List of Ultras of Greenland
The following sortable table comprises the 38 ultra-prominent summits of the nation of Greenland ( Kalaallit Nunaat). Each of these peaks has at least of topographic prominence.This article defines a significant summit as a summit with at l ...
(39)
**
List of Ultras of Mexico
The following sortable table comprises the 26 ultra-prominent summits of México. Each of these peaks has at least of topographic prominence.This article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence, and ...
(27)
**
List of Ultras of the Caribbean
The following sortable table comprises the seven ultra-prominent summits on the islands of the Caribbean Sea. Each of these peaks has at least of topographic prominence. Five of these peaks rise on the island of Hispaniola (three in the Dom ...
(7)
Oceania (69)
*
List of Ultras of Oceania, including the southern Indian Ocean (69)
**
List of Ultras of Australia (2)
**
List of Ultras of New Zealand (10)
**
List of Ultras of Papua New Guinea (31)
**
List of Ultras of the Hawaiian Islands (6)
**
List of Ultras of the Pacific Islands (6)
**
List of Ultras of the southern Indian Ocean (2)
**
List of Ultras of Western New Guinea (Indonesia) (12)
South America (209)
*
List of Ultras of South America
This is a list of the 209 ultra prominent peaks, or Ultras in South America. An ''Ultra'' is a mountain summit with a topographic prominence of or more.
Guiana Highlands
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Cordillera Oriental, Cordillera de Mér ...
(209)
See also
*
List of mountain lists
Perhaps the first of what would become many notable mountain lists around the world was Sir Hugh Munro’s catalogue of the Munros, the peaks above 3,000’ elevation in Scotland. Once defined the list became a popular target for what became know ...
*
List of mountain peaks by prominence
This is a list of mountain peaks ordered by their topographic prominence.
Terminology
The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or from sea level if there is no higher peak. The lowest ...
*
Topographic prominence
In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...
References
{{Lists of Ultras
Mountains
Topography
Ultra